Energy management systems currently focus primarily on optimizing individual buildings. It is, therefore, a matter of optimizing the consumption at a location according to its technical possibilities and its level of self-generation. Cross-location optimizations are not yet used in practice. The main reason for this is that the legal situation in Austria for such an approach was not yet in place. This will change fundamentally with the entry into force of the Renewable Energy Expansion Act. As part of this development, the question of optimization will also arise anew, since a cross-location optimization must take into account more parameters and factors than a pure location optimization. Storage options and market management, in particular, will play a major role in the best possible use of renewable energy.
The core innovation of the project is an integrated approach for local optimization with comprehensive, distributed decision-making, which is to be developed and evaluated for the energy management of several (or many) buildings with a wide variety of structures. This approach will holistically include a wide variety of factors such as weather influences, a changed energy market situation, or storage capacities. The goal of the project is to make renewable energy as usable as possible from a superordinate point of view on the basis of many such factors across all locations through distributed decision-making.
To this end, the proposed project aims to develop a new approach for distributed decision-making that can include combined top-down and bottom-up decisions as well as those between peers at the same level. Decision-making systematically integrates local decisions in individual Decision Making Units (DMUs), which can implement any type of automated decision-making: deterministic, probabilistic, genetic or possibly also an integration of machine learning (neural networks). The advantage of distributed decision-making results, in particular, from the necessary scalability and flexibility with regard to short-term fluctuations in the supply of renewable energy.
This approach will be integrated in different ways with local optimization for individual buildings for cross-location decision making for many diverse buildings innovatively. Local optimizations can be included for distributed decision-making, but the targets for optimizing selected buildings can also be changed through cross-location decisions.
With these innovations, the consortium will make a significant contribution to the future cross-location and best possible use of renewable energy for buildings in Austria and at the same time have a positive influence on the relief of the public network and contribute to its stability. The Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) as a partner can use this project to incorporate the knowledge gained into existing and future projects to expand renewable energies in the real estate portfolio and thus promote the decarbonization of over 2,000 properties throughout Austria. The existing opportunities for cooperation with the organizations involved should also ensure future progress in the real estate sector. Overall, this contributes significantly to the achievement of the climate and energy goals.
